2nd Sunday of the Year (B)

(Edited) Reflections: (From) 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), January 15, 2012

Liturgical readings

1 Samuel 3:3-10, 19
Psalm 40
1 Corinthians 6:13-15, 17-20
John 1:35-42

"Look! There is the Lamb of God!"

For many years, the Jewish people were awaiting the coming of their Messiah. One of their prophets, Isaiah, foretold that this Messiah, this Christ, will herald good news, bring glad tidings, and restore His people Israel. But what the Jews did not expect, was that this Messiah will save not only His people, but the whole of humanity - through the Gentile peoples evangelized by Paul. The Jews were God's chosen people, but God in His mercy, extended His favor to anyone who would believe and accept His Son, Jesus. And the beginning of that merciful will is presented in the gospel: John points out to Jesus as the Lamb of God to his two disciples, "Look! There is the Lamb of God!".

For those two disciples who began to follow Jesus, many more came to see for themselves who the Messiah is. They addressed Him as Rabbi, which means Teacher. Andrew referred to Him as the Messiah (which means Anointed) when he came to his brother Simon Peter. Gradually, Jesus came to be known to the people; and by various titles - Lamb of God, Rabbi, Messiah. As He brought hope to His people two millenia before, He now brings that same hope to us through the Church's proclamation of the Word and the celebration of the Sacraments.

What seems to be an important element in discovering one's hope in Jesus is an attitude of listening. If the two disciples did not listen to John and continued with what they were doing, they would not have known the truth about Jesus as the Lamb of God. Andrew also listened, and ran to his brother Peter, saying: "We have found the Messiah!" That joy in the disciples' discovery of Jesus as the Messiah becomes one's joy too when you listen well to the Word. Listening can begin externally with hearing the Word in the Mass. But this listening can have more depth when you let that Word of hope sink well into the ground of your heart.

Memorial of Saints (January 13)

Visionaries, Stigmatists and Incorruptibles (Last Part)

Introduction

This blog post concludes the Series on Visionaries, Stigmatists and Incorruptibles. The first part of the blog post will recount the story of St. Pio of Pietrelcina's stigmata, while the second part will give a brief summary and list of some of the holy men and women whose flesh remain incorrupt to this present age.

Padre Pio

St. Pio of Pietrelcina (d. 1968 A.D.), a.k.a. Padre Pio, passed away just 32 years before the turn of the new millenium. Although he lived in till the modern age of the 1960s, many of those who have seen, met or have encountered the saint say that his spiritual presence radiates a feeling that transports you to the world of the Middle Ages. Padre Pio is the second most popular Franciscan (Capuchin) stigmatic next to St. Francis of Assisi. Because of modern technology, many were able to photograph and document the miracle and gift of his stigmata.

September 20, 1918 A.D.

Padre Pio received the gift of the stigmata on September 20, 1918 A.D., several months before the end of World War I. Many crowds flocked to him to see the bleeding wounds on his hands and feet. From that 20th day of September up to his death in 1968 A.D., there were exactly 50 years of stigmatization. And at the time of Padre Pio's death, many (especially the doctors and physicians who were examining and studying his wounds) were surprised to see the wounds suddenly disappear as if they have never been present. To learn more about Padre Pio, you can search at any search engine for the details on his life and the miracle of his stigmatization.

Incorrupt bodies of holy men and women

When given the opportunity to see the incorrupt body of a blessed or saint, one will truly be in awe and wonder at the power of God, and how He is able to do the impossible - going against the natural laws of science. The incorrupt bodies of many saints are truly mysteries that cannot be explained by science. Only with the eyes of faith can one know that there is something of God there. As one searches and researches on those holy men and women whose flesh remains incorrupt to this present age, one will be surprised to learn that the Church has been gifted with not only a handful of these miracles, but many. The more known ones are like the body of St. Bernadette Soubirous (the visionary of Lourdes, France). There are many, so much more. The list given in the next paragraph attest to the truth that this gift from God is meant to upbuild the faith of the Church.

A list of God's miracles

Listed below is just a sample of the many holy men and women whose flesh have remained incorrupt to this day. Here are a few names to get you started in your search for their hagiography online:

• St. Catherine of Bologna
• St. Gemma Galgani
• St. Adrian of Canterbury (died in the 8th century)
• Blessed Louis Orione
• St. James Alberione (founder of the Pauline family)
• St. Ubaldo Gubbio
• St. Esmeralda Eutochia Calafatto
• St. Eufemia
• Venerable Maria Crescencia
• St. Dominic Savio
• St. Patricia
• St. Sharbel Makhlouf

Video files

There are many video files in YouTube which you can search, view and learn more of God's miracles through the incorrupt bodies of His faithful and holy servants.